Filler structure



y 6, 1959 H. 5. MEYERS 8 2,888,186

FILLER STRUCTURE v Filed March 7, 1955 77 f 33- I v NVENTOR 1/ 1/" v Hera/a 5T. Myers 34 34 F I 5 BY 7 ATTORNEY the bottom panels.

United States Patent FILLER STRUCTURE Harold S. Meyers, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, Ramsey County, Minn., I a corporation of Minnesota Application March 7, 1955, Serial No. 492,450

' 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-42) This invention relates to an improvement in fillers and deals particularly with a structure useful in holding packaged items in spaced relation.

In the packaging of many products such as those contained in bags and the like, it is some times desirable to place each bag in a separate compartment. Such an arrangement prevents the bags from being forced together when the outer container is moved about and keeps the various items from breaking. The present invention resides in a simple filler which may be inexpensively made and which includes a supporting bottom panel as well as the partition members.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a filler which includes a bottom panel and a series of intersecting partition members. Two of these intersecting partition members are foldably connected to the bottom panel and are formed integrally therewith. The other partition forming members intersect the foldably supported partition members and interlock therewith to form a series of compartments.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that a container into which the tiller is placed may contain a series of layers of fillers arranged in superimposed relation. The bottom forming panel of the first layer rests upon the container bottom. Other fillers may rest upon the lower filler and each is so arranged that the entire layer may be easily removed together with the contents thereof. A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a filler having a bottom panel provided with two foldably connected partition members which, when folded, extend upwardly from the bottom panel at points spaced from the ends of Thus, all of the contents may be properly supported and spaced.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shipping case showing the fillers in place therein.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the filler in readiness for use.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the hinge connection between a partition member and its support.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the blank of which the body of the filler is made.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of one of the intersecting partition forming members. The filler body is formed as is best illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings. It comprises a rectangular sheet of paper board or the like and in the particular arrangement illustrated the filler body is formed of corrugated paper board. The body includes a central portion 10, a portion of which extends the full width of the sheet so as to provide laterally extending portions 11 and 12 which abut against walls of the enclosing container 13 to hold the filler from lateral movement when it is in place in the shipping case.

Patented May 26, 1959 16 and 21 are connected along aligned lines of fold 25 and 26 to a partition forming panel 27. The strips and the panels to which they are attached are usually of substantially equal length so that when erected they are of equal height. In order that the partition member folds flat with its supporting strip the fold lines 22, 23, 25 and 26 are preferably cut creases as indicated in Figure 3. In other words, the major portion of the thickness of the material is cut through so that the two thicknesses can lie in surface contact. Each partition panel is provided with vertically extending notches therein. The panel 24 is provided with two spaced notches 29 and 30 and the panel 27 is provided with aligned spaced notches 31 and 3 2. These notches are to accommodate the partition forming elements of the type shown in Figure 5. Obviously any desired number of such partition forming elements may be employed.

With reference now to Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be seen that the partition forming panels 33 are generally rectangular in form and include spaced notches 34 in their undersurface designed to embrace portions of the partition panels 24 and 27.

The filler is erected from the form shown in Figures 4 and 5 to the form shown in Figure 2. in a simple operation. The connecting strips 15, 16, 20 and 21 are folded upwardly to right angular relation to the extensions 11 and 12 to which they are attached and the panels 24 and 2 7 are folded downwardly along the fold lines 22, 23, 25 and 26 so that these panels are in substantial surface contact with the connecting or supporting strips to which they are hinged and so that the partition panels 24 and 27 are substantially vertical. The partition forming members 33 are next attached to intersect the panels 24 and 27 at right angles. The notches 34 embrace the lower portions of the panels 24 and 27 beneath the notches 29, 30, 31, and 32. Similarly the notches 29 and 31 engage portions of one partition member 33 While the notches 30 and 32 engage a parallel partition member 33. Thus a filler structure is provided having spaced compartments and an integral based panel which extends substantially throughout the bottom of the filler.

The fillers thus erected may be placed into a container 13 of common design and the container normally holds several such fillers in superimposed'relation. The partition forming members 33 extend to substantially the same height as the strips supporting the panels 24 and 27 and, therefore, each filler has a solid fold dotted on the filler next below.

In accordance, with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my filler structure, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A filler structure including a panel having central lateral projections, supporting strips hingedly connected to opposite sides of each said lateral extension and projecting upwardly therefrom, a partition forming panel hinged to the upper edge of each of said supporting strips and in substantial surface contact therewith, the

3 portions of said panel between said lateral projections extending beyond said partition panel in the plane of said panel, and an intersecting filler member having slots in its undersurface embracing portions of said partition panels and holding the same in properly spaced relation.

2. The construction described in claim 1 and including a plurality of intersecting partition members intersecting said partition panels.

3. A filler structure including a bottom panel including oppositely directed lateral projections, supporting strips hingedly connected to opposite sides of said lateral projections, the distance between the lines of hinge being substantially one-third the length of the bottom panel, the fold lines connecting the supporting strips on opposite sides of the bottom panel being aligned, and

partition panels hingedly connected to the upper edges of said supporting strips and extending downwardly therefrom in substantially surface contact therewith, said partition panels dividing said bottom panel into three sections of substantially equal size, and a right angularly extending partition member intersecting said partition panels and holding the same upright.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,195,183 Brown et al Aug. 22, 1916 1,202,985 Fogg Oct. 31, 1916 2,584,967 Watson et a1. Feb. 5, 1952 2,697,547 Wagonseller Dec. 21, 1954 2,723,796 Malmgren Nov. 15, 1955 

